Tinmen
by BeniTohu
Summary: "Most of the ninja I knew in Kiri had scars and most of them were messed up. Some unhinged, others bloodthirsty. And sometimes I'd see one who was just... gone. They're eyes had this hollowness to them. It was usually the older ones, the ones who had seen too much and the ones who lost their hearts. They are probably in other villages to but, in Kiri, we called them the Tinmen."
1. Chapter 1: Flickering Flame of Hellfire

**(A/N: Hey, thanks for checking out my story. I have many things planned for this story. Check the end for more details.)**

(Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Naruto franchise. This is for fun not for profit. I take credit for my original character and the ripples that he causes.)

Chapter 1: Flickering Flame of Hellfire

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One year had passed since Uchiha Sasuke defected from his village to gain power to avenge his clan and defeat his brother. He needed to kill his older brother. The need for vengeance nearly overshadowed everything else, but Sasuke was smart. He knew that he wasn't strong enough yet to kill Itachi. No, he needed power and Orochimaru was the one who would give it to him.

The Uchiha had gone with the snake because he was much stronger than those fools in Konoha. The cursed seal had revealed Orochimaru's power to Sasuke. When the seal activated for the first time, Sasuke had felt glorious. He had felt as if not even the Sandaime Hokage could touch him. If one measly seal could grant him the ability to force his way out of Konoha then, Sasuke could only imagine how much faster he would reach his goal with the Snake Sannin's help.

Of course there were downsides to leaving with the Sannin. The most prominent being that Orochimaru definitely did not have the best intentions towards Sasuke. The snake probably wanted to use the teen for all kinds of horrifying experiments. And it did not help that the snake summoner was a creepy bastard. The young Sharingan user would put up with it though. At least, until the snake was of no use to him anymore.

Despite knowing he made the right decision, Sasuke couldn't help the surge of bitterness that shot through him. He had received little training that did not involve either the cursed seal or his Sharingan eyes. The ebony haired teen realized that those tools needed to be exercised but, Sasuke was under the impression that Orochimaru's teachings would be much more… productive. Except the occasional medical examinations and training session, Sasuke had been left to his own devices in the underground laboratory located somewhere in Kawa no Kuni (River Country).

At first, it had struck him as odd that they were not utilizing the entire shinobi village Orochimaru had access to in Kome no Kuni (Rice Country). When Sasuke had brought up Otogakure no Sato (the Village Hidden in the Sound), the Sannin had raised a condescending eyebrow and laughed, 'Kukukuku… That would be the first place the Leaf would look for you.' The young teen had to admit the reasoning made sense but, Sasuke still didn't understand why he had to stay cooped up in a dark hole in the ground while his brother was on the surface probably getting stronger as he stagnated. Even Naruto, his old teammate, was most likely training more than Sasuke. He felt his anger flare up and an echoing pulse from the cursed mark on his neck. The troubled Sharingan user glanced around, looking for something to vent his anger on.

Sasuke had already picked up his wooden desk chair when the knock sounded on the door. His head whipped towards the noise and a murderous glare soon followed. In an instant, the chair was tucked back under the desk and Sasuke opened the door.

The fool that interrupted the angered shinobi's line of thought stood on the other side of the door. The flickering flame of the candle on Sasuke's desk reflected off the other boy's glasses and for an instant it seemed as if hellfire had replaced Kabuto's eyes to match his demonic smirk. Kabuto, the insufferable medic-nin, pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and the fiery image disappeared.

The Uchiha blinked before his glare returned. He rarely dealt with Kabuto. The grey-haired medic-nin was usually in Oto, looking after things for Orochimaru. Sasuke wondered what was going on and Kabuto was obviously not going to offer an explanation anytime soon. So, Sasuke flared his Sharingan red eyes for added effect and spat out a terse, "What?"

Kabuto lifted an amused eyebrow, "Orochimaru-sama requests your presence in training room four…" Maybe Sasuke was finally going to get the training he deserved. "…He has a surprise for you."

The red-eyed glare intensified at the way the annoying, bespectacled freak practically purred the last sentence. When it came to Orochimaru, surprises were never good. It was probably some test of loyalty or a creepy experiment. Apparently, the unimpressed grunt from Sasuke was the only confirmation Kabuto needed because he wasted no time in walking away.

Knowing the Snake Sannin was not one to be kept waiting, Sasuke reached for the purple rope that he used as a belt and tied it around his loose pants before stepping into the dimly lit hallway. It didn't take long to navigate the dark winding corridors to the training room. Sasuke usually used training room four when he wanted to practice taijutsu and weapon throwing because of its size.

Walking though the doorway, the Uchiha took note of the Sannin conversing with a tall figure but, he disregarded the other male to focus on Orochimaru. The icy blonde stranger was probably one of the Sannin's spies reporting some intelligence and would leave soon enough.

Yellow eyes fixated on Sasuke as their owner started to speak. "Sasuke-kun, how nice of you to come on time. I have a surprise for you that I think you'll like. I am increasing your training."

Sasuke's interest peaked at that. Orochimaru continued in that hissing tone of his, "You will be learning how to wield the sword, Kusanagi. Unfortunately, I have to return to Oto for a while. So, I will not be teaching you. However, I've arranged for another teacher to instruct you in my place."

He motioned behind him where another figure was standing. The figure stepped into the light. Sasuke noted with a hint of surprise that it was the blonde man from before that he thought was only delivering a report. Now that the tall blonde was in the light of the torches on the walls, Sasuke could see that the man's intense gaze reflected a raging blue-grey sea during a storm and a forehead protector was tied under pale blonde bangs. Surprise once again filled the Uchiha when he observed that the Otogakure music note he expected was not present on the man's forehead protector. Instead, four waving lines and a telltale kunai slash were etched onto the metal plate of the dark blue forehead protector. That was the headband of a Kirigakure missing-nin. The black-haired youth was brought out of his observations by the low, hissing voice of his teacher.

"This is Sasayaki Kaito, former shinobi of Kirigakure and one of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū (Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist). He is the wielder of Kiba. And he will teach you how to wield Kusanagi."

A glint of torchlight drew the young ninja's gaze to the twin swords, one hilt peaking over the missing-nin's right shoulder and the other strapped across his mid-back. Sasuke's expression darkened. He couldn't get a good look in the lighting but, the swords weren't as impressive as the other famous swords he'd heard about.

A smirk appeared on the Kiri Nin's face as he studied Sasuke, "Oi, You don't mind if I bloody him up a bit. Do you? Because with the way this gaki's acting, I guarantee there is going to be buckets of it."

His voice deep and soft but, the mocking tone was not appreciated by Sasuke. The pale teenager's expression worsened when the Snake Sannin responded. "Oh no, go ahead. Although, no permanent damage. We wouldn't want to ruin such a perfect specimen. Kukukukuku…" The disturbing laughter followed Orochimaru out of the room.

As Sasuke looked back to his apparent weapons teacher, he wished he could leave as well. He could tell that the particular blonde in front of him was going to be, to borrow a word, troublesome.

When the teen glanced back at his apparent weapons teacher, he barely took in the bloodthirsty grin before Sasuke was forced to dodge a powerful spin kick.

The pale teen shot a wide-eyed look at the obviously insane man before him. The tall blonde's grin widened in response then morphed into a devious expression. He pulled out a standard katana from some unknown place and tossed it carelessly at Sasuke's feet. The sword was awarded a blank look from Sasuke before the Uchiha turned his gaze back towards the person in front of him.

The dual swordsman answered the unasked question with, "Pick it up, gaki."

The bewildered shinobi did as he was told. He feared that failure to comply would trigger an unknown psychotic response which Sasuke had absolutely no desire to discover. The sound of swords being drawn echoed throughout the room. "Training begins now. Don't die!"

It looked like Sasuke would be discovering something after all.

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 **I am new to so it might take awhile for me to find my groove but, hopefully not to long.**

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 **Criticism is welcome. Compliments are encouraged. ;)**

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	2. Chapter 2: What's Your Name Again?

**(A/N: Thanks to all who showed an interest in the story.)**

(Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Naruto franchise. This is for fun not for profit. I take credit for my original character and the ripples that he causes.)TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Chapter 2: What's Your Name Again?

A sword slash from the right and Sasuke had mere seconds to raise his own blade in a shaky block. The two combatants jumped apart before flashing into another series of earth shattering strikes. It felt to Sasuke as if he and Sasayaki had been fighting for days when in reality a measly two minutes had passed. After the first blow, the blonde rained down attack after merciless attack while the pale teen rushed to defend himself.

Not for lack of trying but, Sasuke had been unable to go on the offensive. He ducked into a hasty roll which ended with him on one knee. The Uchiha awkwardly swung wide at his tall opponent's feet and was awarded with a kick to the back of the head that sent him sprawling.

The fight would be much easier with his Sharingan but, every time he tried to activate his bloodline limit, Sasayaki would smack him with the hilt of one twin sword. A peripheral flash of metal was the only warning given for Sasuke to take a slight step forward to avoid the two-sword downward slash. Before the winded teen could release a relieved breath, two white hot lines of pain were drawn down his back.

Dark eyes widened in a mixture of shock and pain. Sasuke thought he dodged that. In the moment of stillness after, Sasuke grasped at the chance to finally observe the famed Kiba swords Sasayaki wielded with immense force. In Sasayaki's right hand, there was a double edged blade with a slightly curved tip but, the surprising quality present with the sword was the pair of fang-like protrusions. Two curved four inch blades connected to the main blade. One near the top curved upward and the other rested rather closely to the cloth wrapped grey hilt. A quick glance to the blonde's other hand confirmed that the blades were identical.

Now that he was aware of the oddities of the enemy's swords, he would have to adjust marginally to account for the additional width the 'fangs' granted. Sasuke moved back into a fighting position. His stance, however, was shaking from exhaustion. Not even Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist, had pushed him this far. The raven haired shinobi could taste the bile in his throat every time his lungs expanded.

The raven focused back on the terrifying blonde. The image caused him to subconsciously relax in surprise. It took a while for Sasuke's oxygen deprived brain to process that the wicked blades were sheathed and cloth covered arms were crossed over a broad chest.

"Alright, gaki, that's enough. I got what I need."

Prompted by the raven's confused stare, Sasayaki clarified, "I was testing your strength. I can't impart my very important wisdom on you if I don't know what I need to teach you."

The raven understood the reasoning but, he wasn't happy at all with the situation. Sasuke did not like losing.

"Now that the introductions are out of the way…" Sasuke didn't know how attempting to bisect a person equated an introduction yourself but, who was he to judge the ramblings of a mentally deranged individual. He tuned back in to the one-sided conversation before he missed anything.

"…how it will be. We're going to spar and then we'll discuss what happened. Hopefully, you'll learn through experience and if not, then you're stupid and wasting my valuable time." Sasayaki chuckled at the piercing glare sent his way and continued. "From what I saw, you have an okay baseline in taijutsu but, you're obviously not used to a sword. It's my job to teach you how to not look like a katana swinging idiot. Since I am so graciously teaching you the way of the sword, there will be no ninjutsu and you can't use your eyes."

"Why not?" Sasuke had an indignant look on his face.

The reply came easily. "Because the Sharingan is a crutch and if you can't stand on your own two feet, you'll never become a kenjutsu master."

Sasuke slowly blinked at the uncharacteristic, at least so far, seriousness. Apparently, the man was serious about his craft. The swordsman went on, "I'm not going to teach you any proper style, yet. None of the styles I know will work for you until you've developed some instinctual kenjutsu."

A large hand pushed platinum blonde bangs out of stone grey eyes. Sasayaki sighed. "Well, I guess that's it. Be here tomorrow at midday for training."

Abruptly, the blonde turned on his heel and made his way to the exit. He made it to the door before freezing mid-step.

"Wait… hold on. Oh shit!" Sasayaki made an about face and awkwardly tugged on the strap across his torso. His head was turned to the side, avoiding direct eye contact. The raven haired boy was a bit disturbed by the sheepish aura the relatively large man was emitting. "Uh… what was your name again?"

The deadpan stare was slapped onto Sasuke's face faster than he could say Chidori.

"Uh... I kind of wasn't paying attention earlier when Orochimaru told me." He shifted his weight and toed the ground with his left foot. The blonde sighed then his shoulders drooped dramatically. Grey eyes peered out from a mop of light hair only to lock onto a frigid onyx gaze. The blonde was an idiot. Sasuke was not opposed to strangulation as a means of working out his anger.

Sasuke just managed to grit out, "Uchiha Sasuke."

The giant blonde suddenly looked disgustingly perky and grinned. Sasuke narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Nice. Well, see you later..." The grin contorted into a mischievous smirk. "...Suke-chan."

The angry glare raged into an inferno.

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 **Thank you once again. I have chapter 3 written and chapter 4 is undergoing some editing but, should be done soon. I'll publish them as soon as I can.**

 **Shout out to anders5 and shiny-cat. Thanks for the follow!**

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	3. Chapter 3: You Forgot One

Chapter 3: You Forgot One

Sasuke found himself in his dark living quarters with a rare block of down time. In the two months since he first met Kaito-sensei, he had been training practically non-stop. His blonde teacher was relentless and unpredictable.

Every day they would meet in training room four to spar but, that was the only aspect of training that stayed the same. After the third consecutive time Sasuke dropped his katana, the dual swordsman put an adhesive seal on the hilt of the teen's sword. The next time Sasuke drew his blade, it stuck to his palm and he couldn't let go for three days. That taught him not to drop his weapon but, it also revealed the merciless blonde's mischievous side.

Kaito came through on his promise to teach by example. Even if the example was a thoroughly mortifying prank. At random times, Kaito would ambush him, with either an attack or an embarrassing trap. The second week of training had a distinct theme to it. Everywhere Sasuke went, he would trigger hidden paint bombs. There wasn't much to learn except trap detection that week. Every time Sasuke's ridiculous teacher saw his _fabulously_ colorful appearance, the blonde idiot had the gall to smirk.

Despite Kaito's unusual supplementary lessons, he was a harsh kenjutsu teacher. The blonde ninja had no compunction towards injuring his black haired student. Sasuke, despite not being a fan of the stinging cuts his instructor left him, understood that anyone who hailed from the thrice damned Bloody Mist probably wasn't going to play nice.

Sasuke loathed to admit weakness but, he respected the blonde enough to admit that the double sword wielder was strong. Kaito-sensei had won every single sparring match. Kaito was fast, definitely, but, his speed was not the hardest trait to deal with.

No, it was the way the blonde moved. His teacher's style of kenjutsu used circular movements to simultaneously attack and defend. Sasuke recalled from their first match, it almost felt as if he was being attacked from all sides. When in reality, Sasayaki was utilizing his superior speed and agility to move around Sasuke in a circle. No, not a circle, it was a sphere. There were a few instances where the blonde attacked from above and below.

It was truly a formidable style. The whirling style would not only allow the user to fend off multiple attackers but also, confuse most shinobi. Shinobi commonly fought with an attack/retreat technique which resulted in linear attack patterns. So, it would be difficult to predict which angle Kaito would choose next.

He would have to figure out a way to predict Sasayaki. He thought that even with the eyes of his clan, Sasuke would have a hard time anticipating the blonde.

"You missed Taki (Waterfall). Start over."

Sasuke sighed then returned to the first stance of the kata. Sasayaki had been running him through the same exercise for three days. The Uchiha would move through the sixteen stances of Kamome no Ken (Seagull Sword) while reciting the names of every country in the Elemental Nations and their respective Hidden Villages.

"Mizu no Kuni (Water Country), Kirigakure, Kaze no Kuni (Wind Country), Sunagakure (Hidden Sand)…" He slid his left foot forward and moved his katana into a horizontal position, as if blocking an imaginary opponent. Kamome no Ken was a style from Kiri which consisted of opportunistic strikes and quick angle changes.

"… Tetsu no Kuni (Iron Country), Hi no Kuni (Fire Country)…" The purpose of the exercise was for the movements to become subconscious. Sasuke would be finished with the exercise when he could name all the countries and Hidden Villages while completing the kata. If he could make the stances of Kamome no Ken second nature, repeating the country names would have the rookie swordsman's full attention.

"… Amegakure (Hidden Rain), Takigakure (Hidden Waterfall), Cha no Kuni (Tea Country)…" Sasayaki was standing against the dirt wall of the training room. He had his hands wrapped around the cross body strap attached to one of Kiba's hilts. There was a frown on Kaito's face that got deeper every time Sasuke ended the kata.

"… Kawa no Kuni, Yuki no Kuni (Snow Country), Yukigakure (Hidden Snow)…" Pivoting on his right foot, the raven haired shinobi formed the last stance with an upward cross slash. "… Otogakure."

Now finished, Sasuke turned apprehensively towards the blonde ninja. The exhausted teen hoped that would be the last time. However, the small spark of hope was quickly snuffed at the grimace carved into Sasayaki's tanned face.

Sasayaki pushed off the wall and walked towards the middle of the dim, fire lit room.

"You forgot one of the Hidden Villages." Sasuke was about to move into the beginning stance again but, stopped at the sound of a low, soft voice. "In fact, you haven't said this one at all."

With furrowed brows, the teen went over his mental checklist. He couldn't think of any others. Maybe it was Kusagakure (Hidden Grass). That one was so small, it was hard to remember sometimes.

"Konoha."

Strands of dark hair flew in all directions as Sasuke's head sprung up. He hadn't heard that name for what felt like years. Flashes of memory blazed through his mind's eye. Giant trees, rose colored hair, and eyes as bright as the morning sky rose from the depths of his subconscious unhindered, now, because of a single utterance that bulldozed the blockades confining the shadowed edges of memory.

Wide obsidian eyes met cool grey eyes that softened at the edges. A thoughtful expression appeared on Sasayaki's face before melting into a visage of determination. A platinum head nodded. "I want you to do it again. Just say them _all_ this time."

Without responding, Sasuke numbly started to move. "Kaminari no Kuni (Lightning Country), Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud)…" He hadn't thought of Konoha once since he left. He was so focused on getting stronger; thinking only of what was to come that he forgot what he left behind. "…Tsume no Kuni (Claw Country)…"

A career. Stance six.

A home. Overhead strike.

A team. Step. Pivot. Backswing.

Sasuke ended with an upward cross slash. "… Konohagakure no Sato."

His katana slipped out of his sweaty hands and clattered to the ground. The young ninja heard footsteps drawing near over the echo of his heavy breathing. Sasayaki's large hand was placed on Sasuke's trembling shoulder.

"Congratulations, Sasuke." The named boy met Kaito's steady gaze. "You can move on now."

Sasuke wasn't sure the blonde was talking about kenjutsu anymore.

 **Well, there you have it. The third chapter. I am admittedly quite proud of this one. I hope you all like it.**

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 **Criticism is welcome. Compliments are encouraged.**

 **BeniTohu, signing out.**


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